Cyril Sarnath
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Chapter 152
🕑 Added 2023-03-14 22:32:40 +0000 UTCRoughly a few days after Keynes had entered the rift, Wagner attended another regular Solar Council’s meeting. He had expected some tension, after all the world was in flux. In the heart of it was Syberius Sael’s death. Every faction in the Solar Council vied for the remnants of the Old Blood. The Old Blood as a collective had ceased to exist shortly after Syberius Sael’s death and they were easy pickings for the stronger players. Untainted Paradise distanced itself from the whole affair, dodging further drama.
It could have gone much worse if Turtelli had been a vicious, cunning man. Luckily for Wagner and his company, Turtelli lacked the guts to call their bluff. Others were too consumed with the Old Blood to pay attention to the little stand-off between Untainted Paradise and Turtelli. The only one who hadn’t let go was Brenton. But his time in the Solar Council was coming to an end. Two blueprints for mana containers had been found, ending Blue Space’s monopoly. Brenton had tried to block it but one of the companies was part of the Crafting Guild which had grown in power and scoffed at Brenton’s protest.
To add insult to the injury, they’d announced an improved version of mana container that would hold 200 mana points for the same price as Blue Space’s 100 mana points containers. They were pushing Blue Space out of business. Nothing Wagner would complain about. He was buying all the mana containers he could put his hands on and larger containers were a blessing.
At the same time, he was aware that the Alchemy Guild was trying to do something similar to him. They were naive to believe they could compete with Untainted Paradise. Elixirs Pucci discovered and worked on were years ahead of the competition. They were going to revolutionise delving and warfare. They just needed to get rid of side effects…
Sitting relaxed in the meeting chamber, Wagner suddenly stilled. Turtelli entered the chamber, playing the chairman, Turtelli always came last. While the recent conflict put Wagner and Turtelli on the opposite sides of a barricade, they’d been friends in the past. Turtelli wasn’t exactly a good person but he tried not to be a bad one, or evil.
There was something off about the self-appointed ‘chairman’ today. Something that immediately drew Wagner’s attention. Seconds ticked before Wagner understood. Turtelli’s aura felt off. Some of the gathered realised it even sooner than him. He wasn’t actually at the pinnacle of the power in this group. Even a weasel like Brenton who was Level 5 rift essence ascender was equal in attributes to Wagner, which had started to annoy him. How smug it would have made Esopp if Wagner had to admit that growing stronger was as important as expanding the company? Very smug.
But Esopp aside, something troublesome was going on with Turtelli. His aura felt strongly conflicted, though Wagner lacked a finer understanding of aura intricacies to tell what was happening to his political opponent. Keynes may be onto something with his spiritual stuff. The issue was time. Wagner’s attention was pulled in a hundred different directions. With how Untainted Paradise operated, their company had started resembling a government. It was an unfortunate consequence of the environment. The Solar Council couldn’t be trusted… Stop.
He had to focus on Turtelli right now.
Outwardly, Turtelli looked without changes, sharp, elegant clothes made out of High Level materials and minimalistic jewellery that reeked of spiritual energy. If these rings and an amulet were custom made then Wagner would have to find out who had crafted them. Maybe he would ask Serrata about Turtelli’s dealings? Though Wagner doubted she would reveal such information even to him. Their alliance didn’t extend this far and most likely would never do. It might push Untainted Paradise to set up their own marketplace and compete with Artefact Exchange. Not a particularly appealing prospect.
“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,” Turtelli said. “I’m glad everyone’s present tonight as there are some important matters to discuss.”
Other councillors frowned, clearly confused. Some spoke up, demanding clarification.
Turtelli placed his hands on the rostrum as if bracing for an impact.
“It is time for the Solar Council to evolve and become more.”
A screen behind Turtelli flickered to life informing everyone that the Solar Council was taking over the role of the old World Government. Wagner, like everyone else in the room, fumed. The initial goal of the Solar Council had been to create a body to oversee the planetary governments in the solar system, but most importantly, to ensure that the next Windsor Freeman would never happen again.
There was uproar, especially, from the three planetary government representatives. With the end of the old World Government, Mars and Venus had gained independence and weren't thrilled by the prospect of losing it now.
But Turtelli was just getting started.
“We’re introducing the Solar Tax and will redesign planetary taxes.”
Wagner went still as he read the changes. Somehow, Turtelli found a way to strike at Untainted Paradise. The Solar Tax was only applied to the council members who didn’t provide ‘value’ to the council, like opening of rifts. Wagner knew it was aimed at his company and as he started thinking about leaving the council, more info appeared. Without being a council member, Untainted Paradise would be banned from conducting business outside of Earth.
One way or another, being a part of the council couldn’t be avoided.
Others would be affected as well, although to varying degrees. Artefact Exchange would have it the worst. Being locked out of the interplanetary trade was a death sentence to a company which facilitated trade. The upside was that Artefact Exchange would only be expected to provide commission-free trades and exclusive deals to the council members. It was nothing in comparison to what Turtelli expected from Untainted Paradise.
Over the uproar that these revelations caused, the leader of the Resistance asked the paramount question.
“How are you going to enforce this bullshit? After all, we can easily remove you from the council and carry on without the Ministry of Geneva’s blessing.”
Almost everyone clapped to her words. But Wagner knew Turtelli too well to start celebrating. The other man wouldn’t come up with this without a powerful backing, although he had no idea who could provide it.
Turtelli slowly looked around the room, his aura was a chaotic maelstrom; something that worried Wagner immensely.
“The Solar Council’s military arm,” Turtelli replied, silencing the room, although only for a few seconds.
“It’s like the World Government all over again! Are you trying to start another war?”
Before Turtelli answered, the door slammed open. Spiritual aura unlike anything Wagner had experienced, spilt into the room. Wagner’s first thoughts was that Turtelli had betrayed them and had allied with Windsor Freeman but the man who entered the room was not Freeman. He was more powerful than the ex-president.
“I guess I’ll take it from here, Turtello.”
“Turtelli,” Turtelli corrected him.
“Whatevs,” the man said, visibly amused.
He wore a wide-brimmed hat, and a doublet with blood and dirt spots. Despite the poor state of his clothes, items he wore hidden underneath radiated a stupid amount of spiritual power. But it was the eyes that put Wagner on alert, they were like two depthless pits, freezing everything in front of this unshaven, homeless-looking man.
“I’m your new military arm.”
No one spoke not because this was absurd but the spiritual pressure from the newcomer was growing heavier and more oppressive. Wagner was on the verge of collapse, when it eased a notch.
“Let’s just make one thing clear,” the newcomer said when everyone sighed in relief. “Turtello’s in charge and if you have a problem with what he’s saying, you must come through me.”
A few people, including Brenton, nodded. Wagner remained still.
“You should call me Mr. Hunter.” He turned to Turtelli. “Continue.”
***
Inside the rift on the frozen lake silence followed Wagner’s words. It stirred an uncharacteristically sombre atmosphere as there was a lot to ingest. They’d been speculating how the Solar Council would handle Untainted Paradise’s delay to fulfil their side of the deal and events from the sub-boss dominion. Something like that could never be forgotten. But this ‘felt’ bigger than their conflict.
“What Level was he?” asked Esopp.
“I don’t know,” Wagner admitted. “But it is unimportant. Someone is pulling the strings and we don’t know who.”
“Have you spoken to the Sovereign?” Columbus asked.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Esopp raised his hands. “How is his Level ‘unimportant’?”
While Esopp got all cocky and competitive about Hunter, Keynes had a different epiphany. In his mind he saw chains wrap around him. Once again he was in Jamaica's underground base. He felt numb, unbeknownst that fear was sinking its claws into his heart. The Solar Council was going to do the same Freeman had tried. They’d be looking to enslave him to do their bidding…
“We must prepare to strike at them,” Keynes said, silencing all conversations.
“Keynes…” Wagner muttered.
Esopp laughed. “That’s the spirit! I’m in.”
No one else shared Esopp’s jolly mood. Not even Keynes who stared at them with a dead-serious expression. There was numbness inside him that was spreading as if only his body was elsewhere.
“You two trying to start the next war?” Wagner asked, his voice hardening. “Back me up here, Columbus.”
“Stop being a wuss,” Esopp smirked. “We have powers. We should use them.”
“That trait is messing with your head, Earl,” Wagner said, unfurling his spiritual aura. It was no more than a breeze to Keynes and it seemed that Esopp shared the sentiment because he laughed it off.
“I’m Level 8 with two rift essence levels now, Zimmermann.” As the testament to his words, Esopp let go of any control of his aura. It cracked the ice and forced everyone but Keynes back. “And I’m starting to grow bored, hiding from Turtelli and his clique.”
“Enough,” Keynes whispered, his eyes finding Esopp’s. There was a challenge in them. In terms of pure attributes, Esopp was stronger but Keynes felt no fear facing him. Their silent standoff lasted only a few seconds before Esopp peeled his eyes off Keynes, muttering something unintelligible. Only then, Esopp restrained his aura to the previous level.
Columbus grunted and all eyes turned to him.
“Considering this new threat, it would be wise to form a contingency plan.” He looked at Argent. “Set up a meeting with your sister, something like this would have to involve the Resistance.”
“Yes, sir.”
Argent left the cave chamber.
“We’ll have to revamp our levelling priority tree,” Wagner said. “Sylv, set up a meeting with Andrew and Cyrano. Also, get me the masterspy. And we must decide if we’re going to bring Serrata onboard.”
“Hell no,” Esopp said. “After this I wouldn’t be surprised to find her in opposition.”
Columbus agreed with Esopp. Soon, Sylv also left them, leaving the four founders and Jedd at the exit. He was too far away to take part in the discussion unfortunately.
“I’m going to open Level 5 rifts,” Keynes said.
“Always full of surprises,” Esopp chuckled. “With a Level 5 rift cluster I actually may hit Level 9 before the end of the month.”
“We can’t risk it,” Wagner quickly interjected. “We don’t have technology capable of blocking spiritual energy from Level 5 rift’s opening. The Institute is going to notice it and they’ll inform the Solar Council. We aren’t ready to face Hunter.”
“Bullshit.” Esopp jumped to his feet with ease. “In fact, I should pay him a visit and see it for myself.”
“Esopp,” Wagner said, his tone brittle. “This Hunter is not a joke… What if he is another Shaper? He certainly felt so and I fear what else we don’t know. Go, level up again or gain a spiritual stage. Anything but going after that monster.”
“Typical,” Esopp scoffed, shaking his head but didn’t comment further.
“As for opening rifts.” Wagner turned to Keynes. “While we’re securing the Level 5 rifts. There are several Level 4 rifts out there that you can open and bring here. We currently have nine Rift Orbs of Relocations.”
Keynes left shortly after that with Jedd in tow. He was going to leave the island in a couple of days but first there was much work to do.
